hiberno

Forms

hībernō (present infinitive hībernāre, perfect active hībernāvī, supine hībernātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin hībernus (“of winter”) + -ō.^[2][3][1] De Vaan derives hībernus from ⟨*heimrinos⟩, a derivative with the full grade of the root of hiems (“winter”), which goes back to Proto-Italic *χiem- and Proto-Indo-European *ǵhéiōm (“winter”).^[4] Cognate with Old Irish gaim (“winter”), Sanskrit हिम (himá-, “cold, frost”), Ancient Greek χειμών (kheimṓn, “winter”) and Lithuanian žiemà (“winter”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL records it first in Cicero,^[3][5] who writes of the reports that arrive every day on how the soldiers spend the winter, quem ad modum milites hibernent.^[3][6] De Vaan dates it from Varro, who writes of props brought indoors for the winter.^[4][6]

Semantic evolution

It means to spend the winter, especially of troops in winter quarters.^[2] The TLL finds it mainly in historians and writers on agriculture: Hirtius and Livy use it of commanders, armies and fleets, and Livy of new ships drawn up on dry land to winter, while Caesar, Sallust and Nepos do not use it.^[3][6] Pliny the Elder uses it of tunny wintering wherever the season catches them.^[6] A deponent hībernor is also found.^[2][3] Persius has the sea hibernat on the Ligurian coast;^[6][3] Lewis and Short take it as to rest, while the TLL takes it as to be stormy and quotes a scholiast who gives both readings.^[6][3] The TLL lists Italian invernare, French hiverner and Spanish invernar among its Romance descendants.^[3] English hibernate, first recorded in 1802, is according to Etymonline probably a back-formation from hibernation.^[7]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero writes of how the soldiers spend the winter.^[3][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it in his work on agriculture.^[4][6][5]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of armies and fleets in winter quarters.^[3][6][5]
• 34–62 AD – Persius uses it of the sea.^[6][3][5]
• 1802 – English hibernate is first recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To spend the winter, to winter.^[2][6][8]
2. (military) To be in winter quarters.^[2][6]
3. (poetic) Of the sea, to rest, or to be stormy.^[6][3]

Word family

• hībernāculum
• hībernātiō

Related words

• hībernus
• hiems
• hiemō

Usage notes

A rare adverb hībernō, “in winter”, is a separate word formed from hībernus;^[9][5] Gaffiot cites it from Caelius Aurelianus, Köbler from Pliny the Elder.^[9][5] The synonym hiemō is formed from hiems.^[8][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.